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Robert Ionescu
Robert Ionescu is a Romanian-American OC driver who was racing for Williams Martini Racing in the 2016 season of Tier 1 but was banned for the remainder of 2016 due to continuous misbehaviours in the stream chats leaving his future in the series in the hands of jyrr123. This later turned into retirement after he and JWF1 made up. A fiercely competitive driver, Ionescu earned many plaudits for his performances in the early part of his career. After time spent in the midfield with Toro Rosso and Sauber, Ionescu was rewarded with a drive at Lotus-Renault in 2013 where he rose to stardom and established himself at the forefront of a new generation of OC drivers who had graduated from GP2. Career Joining GP2 upstart, Arden, in 2009. Ionescu scored points on his debut and achieved a finish as high as 5th in Hungary for the new outfit. His form in the opening rounds led to him being considered by Renault as a replacement for the then injured Finlay Strachan. Ionescu was confirmed to race in Strachan's place in Canada, where he finished a solid 11th in a car he had never tested nor driven competitively. In the end, despite an underwhelming GP2 campaign where he finished a dismal 18th overall, Toro Rosso saw potential in the fiery Romanian and took a chance on him going into 2010. The season proved to be a testing one, with Ionescu coming close to the points on a number of occasions but he found himself consistently outperformed by his teammate Armar Cah over the course of the first half of the season. A turnaround during the latter stages of the year saw back to back points finishes in Germany and Hungary, his first in the sport. However, this was to be the only high point, he was beaten by Cah in the standings and finished 18th overall. Retained by Toro Rosso for 2011, Ionescu had a point to prove, and did so in the best possible manner. A difficult start preceded a career high finish of fourth in an incident packed Monaco and three further points finishes out of the next 5 races. A tough mid-season saw his form falter again, but he finished very strongly with three high points scoring finishes in the final 3 races of the year, including a shock first podium finish in Abu Dhabi. This time, Ionescu got the better of Cah overall, but only just with 3 points being the difference between the two come seasons end as the Romanian finished 10th in the standings. Handpicked by Sauber to replace the outgoing Lucas Levi, Ionescu signed for the Swiss outfit before the 2012 season. Another difficult start preceded a very strong season once again. It took 8 rounds before he scored his first points of the season with 6th around the streets of Valencia. From then on, Ionescu unlocked the potential of the Sauber, scoring points in all but 6 of the final 12 races. These finishes included back to back 4th places in Korea and India. Another strong showing saw him finish 11th overall and ahead of his very highly rated teammate, Rifky Fachrizain. Seeking a change of scenery at a more influential and front running team, Ionescu signed for a resurgent Lotus in 2013. The Enstone team had experienced an upturn in form in 2012, but had lost their two main drivers to Mercedes for 2013. Life wasn't made easy by a proven frontrunner, Will Neller coming in to partner him for the season. Despite these challenges, Ionescu started very well and outpaced his more experienced teammate for the first half of the season, scoring a podium on his debut in Australia and followed this up with a superbly dominant first Grand Prix win in China from second on the grid. This result and results for other drivers, led to him leading the Championship following the race. Podiums in Monaco and at Silverstone cemented his position as a hot prospect, and a maiden pole in Belgium meant Ionescu had certainly proved a few doubters wrong. For the first half of the season, Ionescu had easily outpaced his new teammate, Neller later saying he 'definitely had his hands full (with his new teammate) it just goes to show, it doesn't matter how successful or unsuccessful you've been elsewhere, you can always get the better of those around you if you've got that fire. Rob clearly has that fire'. A fine win in Italy followed, but costly retirements blighted his end to the season. While he had outpaced his teammate the first half of the season, Neller had the upper hand for the conclusion of 2013, in the end putting up an unlikely title fight. Ionescu had to settle for 6th overall, which was still a best finish for the Romanian, however he did finish behind his teammate in the standings for the first time since 2010. Ionescu relighted his connections with Red Bull for 2014 as he moved once again to join the senior team that season, partnering 2009 world champion Miklós Gál. 2014 started very well once again for Ionescu, a win in Australia on his debut was a highly unexpected result considering the Red Bull had relatively lacklustre pace throughout the weekend. Despite strong showings in Spain and Canada, as well as a second win for Red Bull in Germany, Ionescu was susceptible to costly retirements throughout the season. Out of the 19 races that season, he finished only nine, often retiring through unenforced errors. Despite finishing a disappointing 8th overall and behind his teammate Gál in the standings, Red Bulls only wins in 2014 had come courtesy of Ionescu with Gál suffering a rare winless season, only outright consistency from the Hungarian separating the two. Red Bull rewarded the efforts of both of its drivers into 2015 by retaining them, with the two being among the first drivers to get announced by any team. 2015 was another testing year, despite improved consistency and fewer accidents, the Red Bull was not on the pace of the front-running cars. However, Ionescu was able to guide the difficult car to a handful of podiums and strong points finishes throughout the first half of the year, scoring six top 4 finishes in the first 9 races, most notably fighting for the win in the Austrian GP and bringing home 2nd place. However, despite beating Gál in the points, the team opted to retain his more experienced teammate instead of him. Despite that, Williams still recognized the Romanian's potential, and signed him for 2016, alongside his 2014 rival Romain Quag. When asked if there was still a rivalry between the two, Ionescu stated that the two had a difficult relationship in the past, but that's all gone, and he's looking forward to working with the Frenchman. GP4 GP2 OC Results GP4OC Results *Season in progress. GP4 DTM OC Results Category:Drivers